February 11, 2009 5:38 PM
- Text
House Votes To Normalize Vietnam Trade
(AP)
The Republican-led House of Representatives passed a package of trade bills Friday night that includes a measure extending normal trade status to Vietnam.
A weekend Senate session still loomed as some senators objected to trade provisions benefiting Vietnam, Haiti and Andean nations, among others. The House passed the trade bill by a 212-184 vote.
If the Senate should resolve its disputes, pass the package and adjourn, the Republican control of Congress, which has lasted 12 years in the House, would be over. That would set the stage for the next Congress to convene Jan. 4 with Democrats in the majority in both the House and the Senate.
The Vietnam bill would end the Cold War requirement that trade with the communist state be reviewed every year. Supported by the Bush administration, the proposal has run into opposition from critics of Vietnam's human rights record and those worried about the impact on American jobs.
Sen. Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said the bill "makes certain that more U.S.-made goods will get into Vietnam's markets."
Republican Rep. David Dreier said the Vietnam measure would encourage economic and political liberalization in the Southeast Asian nation and provide access for American companies hoping to crack a booming market.
Some industry groups, however, are worried that Vietnam's heavy subsidies and other trade policies have damaged the U.S. textile industry severely, costing companies billions of dollars and destroying American jobs.
The trade package also would extend or expand trade breaks for Haiti, sub-Saharan Africa and Andean nations, drawing opposition from supporters of the beleaguered U.S. textile industry.
Eight Republican senators on Thursday wrote congressional leaders, saying 100,000 textile jobs in their region already had been lost due to trade agreements. They said they would oppose "as forcefully as possible" the Haiti measure.
Republican President George W. Bush's trade liberalization efforts could face trouble in the next Congress.
Democrats, who will come to power when a new Congress begins Jan. 4, contend the deals often favor U.S. competitors. They accuse the Bush administration of doing too little to protect Americans from unfair foreign trade practices.
A weekend Senate session still loomed as some senators objected to trade provisions benefiting Vietnam, Haiti and Andean nations, among others. The House passed the trade bill by a 212-184 vote.
If the Senate should resolve its disputes, pass the package and adjourn, the Republican control of Congress, which has lasted 12 years in the House, would be over. That would set the stage for the next Congress to convene Jan. 4 with Democrats in the majority in both the House and the Senate.
The Vietnam bill would end the Cold War requirement that trade with the communist state be reviewed every year. Supported by the Bush administration, the proposal has run into opposition from critics of Vietnam's human rights record and those worried about the impact on American jobs.
Sen. Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said the bill "makes certain that more U.S.-made goods will get into Vietnam's markets."
Republican Rep. David Dreier said the Vietnam measure would encourage economic and political liberalization in the Southeast Asian nation and provide access for American companies hoping to crack a booming market.
Some industry groups, however, are worried that Vietnam's heavy subsidies and other trade policies have damaged the U.S. textile industry severely, costing companies billions of dollars and destroying American jobs.
The trade package also would extend or expand trade breaks for Haiti, sub-Saharan Africa and Andean nations, drawing opposition from supporters of the beleaguered U.S. textile industry.
Eight Republican senators on Thursday wrote congressional leaders, saying 100,000 textile jobs in their region already had been lost due to trade agreements. They said they would oppose "as forcefully as possible" the Haiti measure.
Republican President George W. Bush's trade liberalization efforts could face trouble in the next Congress.
Democrats, who will come to power when a new Congress begins Jan. 4, contend the deals often favor U.S. competitors. They accuse the Bush administration of doing too little to protect Americans from unfair foreign trade practices.
-
Scott Conroy Scott Conroy is a National Political Reporter for RealClearPolitics and a contributor for CBS News.
Follow on Twitter »
Popular Now in Politics
- Timothy Dolan: Birth control tweak a "first step"
- CPAC: Will Sarah Palin spring a surprise?
- CPAC: Santorum rips Romney, rouses conservatives
- After uproar, Obama tweaks birth control rule
- Ann Coulter riles up the CPAC crowd
- Santorum: Women could bring "emotions" to combat
- Romney takes on hecklers at Maine town hall
- Archbishop Dolan urges Obama to back down on birth control
- Obama to announce revamp of birth control policy
- CPAC: Anti-Obama beats pro-Romney
- Santorum's big benefactor
- Occupy protestors kicked out of CPAC
- Former Giffords aide to run for her House seat
- CPAC: Huckabee "thanks" Obama for birth control firestorm
- Romney says his conservatism will shine
- Report: Chicago cardinal joins contraceptives fight
- Is Rick Santorum conservatives' last, best hope?
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- Cold weather returns to the South; snow possible
- State senator, wife, attacked at western NY casino
- Hundreds gather in Kansas to remember oldest judge
- King memorial group head angry at monument change
on Facebook
- Adele sings a cappella for Anderson Cooper
- Occupy protestors kicked out of CPAC
- CPAC: Will Sarah Palin spring a surprise?
- Beyonce and Jay-Z post first photos of Blue Ivy Carter
on CBS News
